Joy Ride
by Starsky's Strut
Summary: A stolen vehicle and a missing detective ends up being anything but a joy ride for the one left behind.
1. Default Chapter

All usual disclaimers apply, I don't own the rights, I don't get money and this is for entertainment only. Please excuse any errors; they are entirely mine.

This story is for MacCartney, who simply requested _'a story'_ with Starsky 'whumping' in it. This is my response to her request. Enjoy!

I've having some writers block, Ch. 10 of "Lightning" just will not flow. This story pushed its way into the line up.

**Joy Ride  
**By Starsky's Strut

"Why the hell did you steal someone's gardening truck? What's the matter with you? Ain't ya got a sense of style?"

"Style my ass! The keys were in it! The door was unlocked! It don't matter what it looks like… We got us a free ride and we're gonna use it! The owner'll probably thank us for takin' this piece of crap off their hands, man! Now, shut up and get in!"

"I'm drivin'"

"The hell you are! I stole it, I drive it! NOW MOVE!"

"What's the matter Ashley? You ridin' the cotton pony today?" The boy made a pouty face at his female accomplice "Hmmm? Aunty Flow come for a vis-"

Ashley balled up her fist and planted it firmly into Melvin's nose; she felt cartilage give way under her fist and smiled. "That answer your stupid question, moron? Now, you either are ridin' with me or you can get the hell out, choose… Quick like a bunny! Time's wastin'"

"Ib in, Ib in!" Melvin scooted over as he held his nostrils' shut; the blood pooled into his mouth so he leaned out the window and spit it out.

"Jake? You in or out?" Ashley looked at the other teenage boy as she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel.

"What? And miss this? Hell ya, I'm in!" Jake ran over to the rider's side door and opened it.

"I gotta shid by da door, by dose is bleeding" Melvin got out and waited for Jake to hop in. He climbed back in and slammed the rusty door shut. "Why couldn't she have stolen a Camaro or sumpin'?" he muttered as he continued to hold his nostrils together to stem the bleeding.

"You say something?" Ashley glared at Melvin.

"Dope, nod me" He spit another mouthful of blood out and leaned back in the rotted upholstery to enjoy, as best he could, the little joy ride they were going on.

XXXX

Starsky grabbed his camera and exited the Torino. The sunset was beautiful. The lighting was perfect. He walked backwards away from his car, looking through the lens at how the light played on the Torino's glossy shine. This was gonna be the best picture of his car yet. It was gonna be a regular masterpiece. It would be perfect to give to Hutch on his next birthday as a gag gift.

The street was quiet. The sound of the ocean made soothing shushing sounds in the distance. The dying sunlight made the red of the car turn to an almost flame-orange color. The white stripe was painted a temporary pale tangerine color. The chrome glinted silver in the sun. Perfect.

He adjusted the aperture, checked the light read out. He looked both ways up and down the street and seeing it was clear, returned his focus to his focus. He snapped a shot, advanced the film and took another. He heard a metallic ping and looked for the source. His lens cover was rolling away from him. He bent down to pick it up when he heard a vehicle approaching, he scooted further into the road to retrieve the cover; it would only take a second. He had time, or did, until he tripped.

XXXX

"We're lost! Where the hell are you taking us Ashley? Huh? Do you even have a clue?" Jake gave her a disgusted look. "I think that it's my turn to drive anyhow… scoot over"

"No! I said before, I'm driving!" She clutched the wheel tightly "Damn it! I stole it, I drive it. If either of you two mental midgets steal a car, you can drive it!"

Jake had had enough "My turn!" he grabbed one of Ashley's hands and gave it a yank.

"Guys…" Mel saw a figure in the road ahead "Uh…guys…"

"SHUT UP MEL!" Ashley and Jake shrieked as they continued their wrestling match for the steering wheel.

"GUYS!" Mel saw the man look up and watched as the man tried to get to his feet and get out of the way. He almost made it too.

Ashley and Jake looked out the windshield when they heard the fear in Mel's voice.

Ashley stomped on the brakes and the ancient truck tires squealed their protest. The body hit the front of the truck and flipped onto the hood of the old vehicle, it continued until it hit the windshield. The window spider-webbed upon impact. The forward momentum of the vehicle stopped and the body rolled off and onto the pavement with a sickening thump, landing directly in front of the truck.

The three teens moved their arms from the defensive posture in front of their faces and exchanged a frightened look.

Ashley recovered first. "SHIT!"

"HOLY SHIT!" Jake gasped.

"Mother pus bucket! You killed him! We gotta get outta here!" Mel's eyes darted around, checking to see if anyone was around. So far, he didn't see anyone.

Ashley popped her door open got out, dragging Jake by the arm as she did so. The man lay motionless on the pavement. She nudged him with her foot. No sound issued from the still figure. "Jake, see if he's dead"

"Oh Hell no! You hit him; you see if he's dead, Miss 'I stole it, I drive it'"

Ashley kneeled down next to the still figure's head. Blood was beginning to pool under the curly hair. She didn't want to touch it, but she made herself touch his neck. She didn't feel anything and pulled her hand back quickly. "He's dead… Yuck! I just touched a dead guy!" She rubbed her soiled fingers on her jeans encased leg.

"We gotta get outta here, now!" Mel called from the safety of the truck.

"Good idea" Jake moved to get back into the vehicle.

"Hey, guys! He's in the way; I don't wanna run him over!" Ashley protested.

"You said he was dead… it don't matter… let's just get the hell outta here" Jake was stopped by Ashley's hand on his arm.

"Yuck… no! I mean, like, what if he gets caught under the truck and we like… drag him under us" Ashley swallowed hard.

"Gross, Ash, real gross… Mel, get yer ass outta the truck and help us move him" Jake watched as Mel exited the truck and slowly moved to join them.

Mel took one look at the body "Ugh! I'm gonna puke!" And Mel puked.

"You done now? Grab something and help!" Jake grabbed a leather-encased arm and yanked. "C'mon Mel, Ash… I can't lug him myself!"

Ashley watched for a second then realized something "Hey guys, I got a better idea then just moving him out of the way"

"Ash, you nuts? C'mon" Jake looked over at Mel who was trying to lift the man's leg with just two fingers "Grab a handful or we'll be here all night!"

"Okay, okay… don't get your piss hot" Mel felt his guts do a triple summersault and leaned away to puke some more.

Ashley dashed to the bed of the pickup truck and grabbed a tarp "Here, roll him on this… and we'll dump him somewhere away from here"

"You nuts Ash? Let's just move him and go"

"Jake, I was just thinking… if we leave him here, someone will find him soon, maybe they'll remember seeing him get hit by us…"

"So! All the more reason to move him and go!"

"No! Don't you get it? If they see us load him up, maybe they'll think we took him to the hospital… or if nobody had seen us, they won't know he's dead… just that he's missing"

"I don't like it" Jake tugged at the limp arm, again attempting to move the dead weight.

"Let's just do it!" She threw the tarp down and began to tug at the body and she managed to roll it from its side, to onto its belly. "Help me!" She glared at her friends.

They rolled their eyes, took a deep breath, and then helped her roll the dead guy on to the tarp. They wrapped it quickly around him and all three carried him to the bed of the truck and dumped him over the side. The body made a sickening squishy-thump when it hit the bed.

"What now Ash?" Jake wiped his hands on his pants. There wasn't any blood on them, but they were sweating like mad. He wiped again.

"Get in, I've got an idea" Ashley got in and the boys got in as well. She drove off slowly and maintained the speed limit. "Keep on the look out for anybody who might be watching us"

The boys complied.

They didn't see anyone.

And no one saw them.

XXXX

"Starsky, where are you?" Hutch pulled out his pocket watch for the third time in… he looked the crystal watch face… twenty minutes, according to his watch. He paced up and down the sidewalk in front of his Venice Place apartment. "C'mon! Cindy and Bambi are not gonna wanna double date with us again if we are late one more time! They're a package deal Starsk, who knows when they'll have another three day, lay-over in Bay City" He glared up the street in the direction that Starsky usually drove to his apartment. Something must be wrong.

A thought occurred to him. _No… he wouldn't, or would he?_ "Starsky… if you are taking the girls out all by yourself…" He shoved his hands into his pockets. He could just imagine Starsky pulling a stunt like that. "Some best friend you are! I wish I would have thought of doing that…" He ran a hand over his blond locks and stared up the street.

After another fifteen minutes of angrily pacing in front of his home, Hutch stomped up the steps and entered his apartment to call his tardy, soon-to-be-former best friend. As he expected, he didn't get an answer. He called the hotel where Cindy and Bambi were, and they didn't answer either.

He thought about getting into the LTD and going to look for his former friend and the stewardesses, but the memories of Diana Harmon were still fresh in his mind. He was not going to go off and start acting like her. If Starsky wanted both Cindy and Bambi, he was welcome to have them. But that didn't mean that he wouldn't harass the brunet when he next saw him.

Hutch started plotting his revenge. Maybe he could add another rusty spring under the LTD and further drive Starsky mad with squeaks that only he could hear. Of course Hutch could hear the squeaks, he just pretended not to, because he knew it bothered Starsky.

Somewhat mollified with his scheming, Hutch took his coat off and sat down with a beer to sulk in the dark.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Hi All,

Thanks so much for the kind reviews! …I am blushing here…really!

MacCartney – Glad you like the story so far… hope you, and everyone else who reads it, continue to enjoy the story.

Oh FYI, I don't write death stories. Well, not yet anyway. _Wink!_

**Joy Ride Ch. 2**

"What are we gonna do? I mean, you just killed a guy" Jake kept rubbing his hands on his pants legs. They wouldn't stop sweating and he couldn't seem to get the feel of the dead guy's weight off of his hands. He rubbed again.

"It was an accident! What was he doing in the middle of road anyway? He shouldn't have been there. Now shut up and let me think" Ashley's finger's whitened as she tightened her grip.

"We are so in trouble… our parents are gonna kill us. We are so dead! We'll be kicked out of school; this'll go on our permanent records" Mel paused to spit more blood out the truck window.

"Permanent records? Don't tell me that you still believe in that old 'permanent records' crap? Do you still believe in Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny too?" Ashley snapped as she maneuvered her way through evening traffic. It was dark now; the last of the sunlight had disappeared over the horizon fifteen minutes ago.

"We gotta tell somebody," Mel whispered.

Ashley glared at him then pulled into a deserted parking lot and stopped the truck "No! We don't have to tell anyone. We ain't gonna tell anyone… got it? We don't tell _anybody_ and nobody but us three will ever know"

"How're we gonna do that? We got a _body_ in the back of the Goddamn truck! A stolen truck..." Mel wiped his nose; it was still dripping a little blood. It wasn't the gusher it had been before, but it still bled. He wiped the blood off his hand and onto the moldering truck seat.

"A truck with gardening stuff in the back…" Ashley looked through the back window at the tarp-encased body. "I've got it! We plant him!" She grinned, "It's perfect!"

"What's perfect? I don't get it, what do you mean 'plant him'?" Jake looked out the back window as well and looked into the shadowy truck bed at the still, tarp wrapped body. None of it seemed real. But, there the proof was, lying there; he ran a nervous hand through his hair. This joy ride was turning into anything but fun.

"Listen carefully dummies, we dig a hole, throw him in and cover it up – we 'plant him'" she clapped her hands in glee "It's perfect!"

"Why should we do that? We can just leave the vehicle somewhere and be done with it" Jake looked away from the body to Ashley.

"Boys are really dumb. I don't mean just you two. I mean all of you. Ever hear of something called 'finger prints'?" she waggled her fingers in his face.

"So? We burn the vehicle, no vehicle, no prints" Jake faced forward and crossed his arms over his chest. "There, Miss Smarty Pants, not so stupid now am I?"

She turned back around as well "That's a good idea, but, if we get rid of the body first then torch the truck, the cops'll just think it was just a joy ride that ended in flames… but, if they find a body in the truck, they'll investigate. It still comes back to burying the body"

"Why not just dump it somewhere?" Mel spit out the window again. His nose was bleeding far less now and that was about the only good thing that had happened to him today. It was totally creeping him out to have a body just a few feet away from him.

"Someone could find it. No. We gotta bury it. I know just the place" She checked the fuel gauge and found it had three quarters of a tank. More than enough to get them there and back, she put the truck back in drive.

"Where're we goin'?" Mel leaned forward to see past Jake to Ashley.

"Some place I know. No one is there this time of year; it's not too far. We should be able to get there, plant him and get back in a few hours, easy" Ashley pulled back onto the street and headed for the spot she had in mind. "Piece of cake"

XXXX

Hutch checked the wall clock. Midnight. Three empty bottles of beer sat on the coffee table before him. He got to his feet and stretched. Might as well go to bed, he wanted a clear head when he got up in the morning. So much the better to yell at Starsky with a clear head, while Starsky would probably have a headache along with other more enviable aches and pains after spending the night with both Cindy and Bambi. The lucky dog.

He brushed his teeth, undressed and set his alarm clock for six in the morning. He might as well take a run before calling Starsky. It would help clear his mind before he gave his friend an earful for his deceit. "I hope you are enjoying yourself right now, buddy… because it all ends tomorrow" he flopped down on his bed and pulled the covers over himself and in minutes was asleep.

XXXX

"Ash, just where the hell are we?" Jake pulled out a pack of cigarettes and tamped them down on his leg to pack them.

"Put those away" Ashley batted at Jake's hand as he tried to light up.

"What?" He moved the lit match around, avoiding her batting hand.

"Those things are gross" Ashley stopped swatting at the match as it burned down to his fingers.

"They make me look cool… ouch!" the flame touched his fingers and he flicked the matchstick away.

"They make you look like an idiot with a smelly cigarette stuck in his face. Didn't any girl ever tell you that kissing someone who smokes is like licking out an ashtray? And what girl wants to do that? Huh?" Her tone was brazen and she batted her lashes at him.

"Oh… so you want to kiss me Ash?" he tossed the unlit cigarette out Mel's window and slipped his arm behind her shoulders.

Ashley gave a throaty laugh "Uh-uh, I just said 'any girl' I didn't say me… Hey! There's our turnoff" She hit the turn signal and took the exit ramp to her destination.

XXXX

"I can't do this Ash, I can't" Mel leaned against the front bumper of the truck and stared up at the stars. He couldn't force himself to touch the dead guy again. He just couldn't.

Ashley walked over and whispered to Jake and asked him to wait by the tailgate and then she headed back to talk Mel into helping them bury the guy. It would take all three to get the man into the woods, even using the wheelbarrow. And, she wasn't planning on doing any digging herself. "What's wrong Mel?" she crooned in his ear and gently rubbed his arm.

"I don't want to bury him, I don't wanna touch him again… this wasn't suppose to happen, ya know? Tonight was just supposed to be fun, not…" he gestured towards the back of the truck and stifled a sob. He did not want to cry in front of her. It wasn't manly and a guy who cries just doesn't get girls.

Ashley was a girl who learned early how to get what she wanted from the opposite sex. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek and gave him a hug "I know… I didn't mean to hit that guy… but I did and it hurts" she let some tears fall and turned away slightly and wiped at her eyes. "We're all in this together, you're not alone… I feel just awful about it" she felt her voice crack; she really didn't mean to hit the guy. But she had and the only way out was to hide the proof and forget it ever happened.

"Look, you'd be doin' the guy a favor" she sniffled.

"A favor? How is burying him a favor?" Mel looked up at the stars, it amazed him how many there were. The lights of the city drowned them out so only the brightest could be seen, but out here… there were millions visible. The sight of all of them made him feel very small indeed.

"Well, it's the decent thing to do… no one can know about this or we are all in trouble… trouble as in jail… and yeah, we could just dump him, like you said… just dump him on the ground and leave him out for animals to get at… and… and the flies" She swallowed hard at that thought "but we're gonna give him a decent burial… okay?"

"Yeah… I guess your right" Mel kicked the dirt in front of the truck "Let's just get this done"

Ashley leaned in and kissed his cheek again "It's for the best… you'll see"

The three struggled with the limp body in the tarp. All of them were glad it was wrapped in the tarp, that way they could pretend that it was anything but a human body. They got it into the wheelbarrow and with Mel and Jake taking turns pushing it while Ashley helped to steady the load.

XXXX

"I can't believe we did that" Jake wiped dirt off of his hands and tossed the shovel back into the wheelbarrow.

"Well, we did. No one will ever know" Ashley tucked her blonde hair behind her ears then proceeded to spread some leaves and branches over the shallow grave to hide the freshly turned dirt.

"What do we do now?" Mel looked at the grave "Shouldn't we say something?"

Jake and Ashley gave him a strange look.

"Say what? 'Uh, sorry we ran you over, dude?'" Jake said in a mocking tone.

"I was thinking a prayer or something, you know…" he trailed off as the other two rolled their eyes and started back towards the truck. He looked back at the grave "Dear Lord, We're sorry we hit this guy and we're sorry the ground was too hard to bury him deep enough to keep animals from getting at him. Um, maybe You can keep them away… uh, please…? Amen"

He bowed his head and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he saw that his friends were heading further up the trail with out him "Hey guys! Wait up!" He grabbed the wheelbarrow and pushed it up out of the woods and to the hard packed trail as fast as he could to catch up with the others.

They waited up the path until Mel got there. "Jake and I were just talkin', we gotta get rid of the truck… burn it. But first we are gonna go to your house"

"My house? Why?" Mel panted as he pushed the wheelbarrow up a hill.

"So you can get you mom's car and follow us over to the junkyard on Lean road" Ashley slipped on the grassy slope and caught herself on a bush. "Then you give us a ride home, we'll give you gas money so you can fill the tank up so she won't know you used the car… okay?" She looked at Jake "Can you pitch in some money for the gas?"

Jake nodded; eager to get home and forget this whole night ever happened.

XXXX

The telephone ringing woke Hutch up, he answered it with a yawn "Yeah… speak to me" he muttered sleepily into the mouthpiece. The sound of his captain's voice brought him to instantly to fully awake.

"Cap, could you repeat that? His car? Where? I'm on my way!" Hutch dropped the handset back onto the phone and turned the light on. He dressed in record time and grabbed his keys.

A half an hour later he was at the scene where a patrol car had found Starsky's car parked in a no parking zone. The uniformed officer had radioed in the plates before calling a tow truck to remove it. When he heard it was a detective's car, he contacted the man's captain, Harold Dobey.

Floodlights lit the scene. Dobey intercepted Hutch as he trotted towards the Torino. He grabbed the blond by the elbow. "Do you know where your partner is?"

"He was suppose to pick me up last night, we were going on a double date" He craned his neck in the direction of the Torino, as if looking at the car could give him all the answers. "He didn't show… I thought maybe he… never mind what I thought. Where is he? Is he here?"

"Hutch, son… no he's not here, but it looks like there was an accident, we found some windshield glass, part of a amber turn signal and some blood – not a lot of blood, not a fatal amount-"

"Fatal!" Hutch lurched towards the Torino again, only to be pulled back by Dobey.

"NOT a fatal amount of blood. There is no sign of Starsky. I think it was a hit and run, we're checking all the hospitals, whoever MAY have hit Starsky, may have taken him to one. No ambulances made any pickups in this area for the last week, I checked."

"Maybe someone else was hurt and Starsky helped them" Hutch was grasping at straws, he knew it but couldn't stop himself. The alterative was too disturbing.

"He would have called you to let you know, you said you two were double dating tonight" Dobey squeezed Hutch's arm. "We found his Nikon camera… it's damaged, but the film may still be okay… some pictures were taken-"

"You think that maybe he took a picture of who hit him?" he cut Dobey off and his eyes burned into his captain's.

"We won't know until the film is developed, it's a possibility. The camera is already on its way to the lab. We should know shortly." He released his hold on the blond's arm and let the man go to look at the scene.

Hutch wandered over to the well-lit area. Dawn was breaking; it would be daylight in a little while. He surveyed the scene, looking it over with a practiced eye. He looked at the Torino's position and then he looked over his shoulder toward the ocean. Starsky had probably been taking pictures of his car again. He shook his head. He just never really understood the brunet's passion for his red parade float.

A flash of a camera caught his attention, he saw George from the crime lab team "George, what kind of camera is that?"

"It's a Nikon, it's got the-" George was always happy to talk about cameras.

Hutch cut him off "Is that the same kind as Starsky's?"

"Yeah, it's the-"

"Can I use it for a minute? I want to check something out" He held out his hand and George shrugged and handed it over.

"Don't take any pictures with it" George cautioned.

"No, I just want to see something" Hutch moved to the curb, opposite of the Torino and looked through the lens at the car. He then moved forward, bit by bit until the car was in good frame. He stopped and looked up and down the road. Then he looked down at the pavement. A damaged lens cover lay in the road. He almost picked it up, but it was evidence, so he left it there. A scenario played in his mind.

Hutch could see it all plainly as though it were a movie, Starsky was taking photos of his car in the setting sun, it was a nice setting, the background plain enough that it would not detract from the car. Starsky moved to an optimal distance for a good shot, he hears something… the vehicle bearing down on him… he moves… did he drop the lens cover? Or was he headed back to his car wasn't paying attention? No, that didn't seem right. His friend might be a little careless but he wasn't stupid. Something slowed Starsky down and he was hit.

The distance of the skid marks indicated that the vehicle was not going very fast when the brakes were applied. Whatever the speed, it was fast enough to do damage, as indicated by the debris. Starsky hadn't been run over, there would have been a lot more blood.

Hutch choked back the vomit that rose in his throat. Glass and parts of turn signal meant that Starsky was thrown up and onto the hood. Blood on the pavement indicated that he had landed on the pavement and lay there for a little while, a few minutes' tops.

Whoever hit him, must have taken him to a hospital. Or… Hutch looked around; maybe his friend had staggered off after being hit. "Hey George! Did you find any more blood that that?" He pointed at the small dried patch.

"As in a blood trail? Nope, we looked; then again, some vehicles drove through the blood, so there's not a lot to tell, just that it's not a fatal amount. 'Course, he maybe bleeding internally, or…" George broke off. The dead don't bleed. He did not want to be the one to say it. He changed the subject "We know that the vehicle is a Dodge truck, an older model, 65 or 66, judging from the turn signal lens. The windshield is damaged, as these bits of glass show, oh and we found this, its really odd"

Hutch wandered over to where George was pointing, "Looks like potting soil"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. But what's it doing in the road?" George scratched his head.

"Perhaps it came from the truck…" The blond pinched the bridge of his nose with his pointer finger and thumb. "It's a long shot, but let's put out an APB for a 65 or 66 Dodge truck with damage to the front left turn signal, hood and windshield. Any idea of the vehicle's color?"

George shook his head no.

Hutch proceeded to call for the APB on the Dodge truck and as an afterthought added a bit about gardening supplies, specifically potting soil. It was a really long shot. But it was the only shot he had.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Hi All,

Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews. _BLUSH_ - see you made me blush again! You guys are _good. Hugs!_ This chapter is a little slower, but thing should go a littlefaster in chapter 4.

**Joy Ride Ch. 3**

They torched the truck and left as soon as it was fully engulfed in flames. They climbed into Mel's mother's car. Mel pulled back onto Lean Road and headed for Jake's house, it was the closest to the junkyard, though still a few miles away.

Jake got out when Mel stopped the car a block from his house "See you guys at school on Monday, if I decide to show" he started to walk away.

"Remember, don't say anything to anyone. This is our secret. If you want to talk to anyone, talk to me" Ashley looked from one boy to the other.

"You forgettin' somethin' Ash? We're not part of your crowd at school. You just hang with us sometimes for kicks. You don't hang with us socially, you can't, Little Miss Cheerleader, you can't be seen with us and we can't be seen with you." Jake pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"Look, here's my number, it's a private unlisted line, it rings only in my bedroom. You need to talk to someone, call me." She looked earnestly at each boy "I mean it, call, we'll talk. Jake, come to school on Monday"

"Why?" the boy tensed up and looked at the blonde pixie in the rider's seat of the Station Wagon.

"Because, we want everyone to think it's a normal day, you skip, a truant officer might find you-" she shoved her hair behind her ear and looked up through her eyelashes at him.

"So? It wouldn't be the first time" He jammed his hands into his pants pockets and shuffled his feet.

"Just do it, that way we know nobody told, no narks, no finks, no squealers" She looked from one boy to the other.

"Right, no narks, no finks, no squealers" The two boys recited. They knew the drill. They had been friends since they were little kids. But social pressures and peer pressures now separated them at school. The boys, being of lower income didn't hang, hell, couldn't hang with the rich, athletic crowd at school, Ashley's crowd. But the three could still hook up and run together sometimes. They showed Ashley the fun of the darker side of the streets and she footed the bill. It was a good trade. Usually.

"No one would believe you anyway" Ashley fingered her hair, breaking eye contact with Jake.

"Don't I know it, thanks for rubbing it in my face, Ash. Ya know, you can be a real bitch sometimes" Jake trotted away towards his home in the trailer park. Ash was only saying what was true. But it hurt when she rubbed it in like that.

"You didn't have to say that to Jake, you know how he feels about that. That's why he's cutting school more and more" Mel pulled away from the curb and headed in the direction of Ashley's home on the Upper East Side.

"I know, it was wrong me to say that, but it's true. That goes for you as well. No one would believe you; they would never believe that I had anything to do with this. There is no proof of anything"

"Yeah, I know. But a man is dead-"

"Pull over Mel, now" Her voice was firm.

Mel pulled over and stopped the car "What?"

"I know you are feeling a little guilty right now. I am too. I was driving, remember?" She leaned back in the seat and stared at the ceiling interior of the car.

"How can you be so calm about this Ash? How do you do it?" Mel's tone was plaintive.

"Ever wonder why I am on so many charities? So many committees? I make up for any bad I do by being twice as helpful, you see? I feel so good about all I do to improve life, it makes up for the times when I do stuff like… well, I've never done anything like this, but it'll be the same deal." She looked at her companion "Do you see what I'm saying here?"

"Yeah, I guess, but people will think I've weirded out if I start in on doing a bunch of charities or something" he leaned forward and rested his forehead on the steering wheel.

Ashley rolled her eyes "Start small. Just make a little change"

"Yeah? Like what?" he lifted his head.

"Start doing your homework or something, get a part time job, stuff like that. I'm really beat, take me home now, okay?" she stifled a yawn. "Don't take on the world, just a little change, you'll be amazed how people's attitudes will start to change towards you, trust me"

"Sure Ash, I trust you" he smiled at her and she returned it. His heart leapt in his chest when she reached over and patted his leg.

"Remember, just a little change, you'll see" she turned her face towards the rider's side window and looked out. _Boys!_ She rolled her eyes and mentally snorted_ it was a good thing they were so dumb_, _it made them easier to manipulate. _

Then she remembered the man. She clenched her fists. She was sorry about hitting him, but he was dead and buried. No one would ever know.

Ashley knew that she would have to use a few of her mom's sleeping pills to get enough rest over the next few days, at least until the pain dulled. She would go to bed early, do her homework to perfection, attend cheerleader practice. She would be extra good. She would make up for it. She would. She would. Her fingernails bit into her palms, she didn't feel it.

XXXX

"It's been hours! We gotta do something!" Hutch paced back and forth in front of Dobey's desk "No leads, no word, no nothin'! Nothing from the APB, nothing from the hospital, nothing from the streets" he slammed his fist down onto Dobey's desk, hard enough to knock over a Styrofoam coffee cup and the penholder. Coffee ran onto the floor.

Dobey handed Hutch some paper towels "That's why I'm holding a news conference in ten minutes. We will ask for the publics' assistance on this. Someone knows something, seen something-"

"I want to do it Cap'n, let me do it, I-I have to do this" Hutch's mind flashed over his thoughts from the day before. The awful things he thought Starsky had done and none of it was true. Guilt hurt. He had finally gotten in touch with Cindy and Bambi an hour ago, they had tired of waiting for the boys and had called a cab and went to a Disco to do some dancing until dawn.

"I wouldn't dream of stopping you" the big man made his way around his desk "Go wash up and comb your hair, I'll meet you in conference room D in five minutes" Dobey exited his office.

Hutch stared at the closed door for a second, collecting himself, then he too headed out. He had a plea for information to make.

XXXX

Hours earlier, deep in the woods 

Pain. All was pain. The world turned on it. Starsky tried to move. Pain bit him. It grabbed huge mouthfuls of him and yanked so hard, it took his breath away. He lay very still for a little while. It still hurt. Even breathing hurt. Why was it so hard to breathe?

Something was on top of him. Something was wrapped around him, pushing him from all sides. With great difficulty he moved a hand and touched the thing. It was smooth. It was smooth on his face. Smoothness surrounded him.

He managed to move one of his arms a bit and pushed. The smooth thing moved a little. He pushed again, harder this time. It moved again. Dirt trickled from somewhere and hit him lightly in the face and he clawed again at the smooth thing.

It hurt to move, but something made him push through the pain and claw some more. He clawed for a long time. Or it felt like a long time. Maybe it was forever. Perhaps this it what life was. Claw. Claw. Claw. Try to get something, but what? Claw some more.

A waft of fresh air tickled his nose. He inhaled deeply, until the pain screamed in rage and attacked him once more. He blacked out.

XXXX

Mel had made it home after refueling Mom's car. He snuck in the basement door and up the steps to his bedroom. Dad would be home from his third shift factory job in about two hours. He was cutting it close. He tiptoed to his room and entered, undressed and lay down on his bed. He was still too wired to sleep.

He thought about what Ashley said. It made sense. It made a lot of sense. Look at Ashley. She was perfect. Everybody loved her. No one but him and Jake knew she could really cut loose and be wild. Now she had trusted him enough to let him in on her little secret. Wow, could it really be that easy?

Maybe, just maybe, if he started doing his homework and maybe got a job… a little money, a little respect… just maybe she would like him a little more. She had stroked his leg all the way to her house and she had kissed him full on the lips when he had pulled over a block from her home to let her out. Maybe one day he would be permitted to drop her off at her front door… he touched his lips. They still tingled from the kiss.

He sighed and then set his alarm clock for eleven a.m. He would start on his homework then. It was Sunday, but he could get some of it done, maybe all of it. The teachers would freak out on Monday. Melvin fell asleep with a smile on his face.

His alarm went off at eleven and he rolled out of bed and turned it off quickly so it wouldn't wake his dad. Dad was meaner then hell if he got woken up for no good reason. Mel turned on his little black and white TV, he kept the volume real low so he wouldn't wake his dad, then he got dressed. He was gonna make good on Ashley's advice.

He lay on the bed trying to read the schoolbook. Why did he have to bring home his Biology book? 'Cause his mom expected him to bring something home. His parents didn't ask about his grades. They hadn't asked in years. As long as he passed and made the next grade, that's all they cared about.

He had found that out when he had nearly flunked last year. His dad had blackened both of his eyes when he found out his kid was close to flunking. Mel was careful to try just hard enough to make it to the next grade. One bad beating was enough to convince him of that; he had been sore for a week after that one.

"We interrupt our programming to bring you a special news bulletin. Coming to you live from the Bay City Police Departments Metropolitan Division-"

Mel turned the volume off. He hated the news, it was so boring and dull. He forced his eyes back to the Biology book. He read a paragraph and glanced at the TV to see if the news was over, nope, some guy with light hair was yapping. Mel's eyes started heading back to the boring book when a photo was shown on the TV. His eyes widened. It was the guy, the body… Mel reached over and upped the volume.

"_-any information on Detective Sergeant David Starsky, please call the number on the screen, please help us locate him. Starsky, buddy, if you can hear me, please call me now. If someone has him, or knows where he is… please, please call this number, we can talk, that number again is-"_

Mel turned the volume off again. A cop. SHIT! They had killed a cop! Mother pus bucket! He grabbed a pencil and wrote the number down. His hand shook so hard he broke the lead. He picked up a pen and scrawled the number down inside the Biology book. It didn't even look like his handwriting. His breath came in pants and his stomach knotted up.

The body had a name now. People were looking for the guy. Cops were looking for one of their own. The man was a cop! Mel broke for the door and dashed down the hall to the bathroom and tried to puke in the toilet. Nothing came out. His stomach had been empty for hours. That fact didn't stop his stomach from trying, really, really hard.

There was a soft knock at the door "Melvin honey, are you okay?"

"No, uhhh… I think I've got the flu or something" Mel rested his head on the toilet rim.

"There's a girl on the phone, she wants to talk to you, I'll have her call back"

Mel rose and opened the door "NO!" At his mother's fearful look in the direction of Dad's bedroom, Mel whispered, "No, I'll get it" He brushed past her and got to the phone "Hello?" seeing his mother standing in the kitchen archway, he picked up the phone and put it next to the front door, he opened the door and pulled the curly handset cord as far as it could go and closed the front door as tight as he could. The sun was bright and warm on his skin.

"Did you see it?" Ashley's voice was breathy.

"Yeah! Oh God! What're we gonna do?" Mel whispered into the phone.

"Same thing we talked about. Say nothing. Not to anyone! I gotta go now, and Mel?"

"Yeah?"

"I… I think I'm falling in love with you…remember, keep quiet, tell no one, no narks, no finks, no squealers. I'll see you in school tomorrow, bye!"

The phone clicked in his ear and the dial tone droned in his ear "bye Ashley" He leaned against the front door and listened as his inner mind replayed her words to him '_I think I'm falling in love with you'_ Wow! Ashley was falling in love with _him._

He entered the front door and put the phone back where it belonged. His mother was waiting for him at the kitchen table.

"What happened to your nose? Did your father…? What happened?" she reached out to touch it.

Mel blocked her touch with his hand "Just a guy from school Mom, it's nothing, it's fine, I gotta study now, uh… there's a test tomorrow"

"Melvin, I know I don't say it very often, but I'm proud of you, you're really a good boy" she smiled at him "If your stomach is settled, I'll make you some soup later on, okay?"

"Thanks Mom" Mel ducked his head and went back to his room. He would do what Ashley said. He would study and he would make his mom proud. He would have to really earn the words she had just told them. He would do it. He had to.

XXXX

Hutch paced. His new world order revolved around pacing and waiting. It was now late Sunday afternoon and he was waiting. Waiting for nothing. He moved over to the coffee pot for a refill. A dark hand dropped over his and stopped him. He looked at the hand's owner.

"You've had enough of that stuff. You need to eat something" Dobey placed an apple in the blond's hand and curled the long fingers around the fruit. "Eat"

Hutch brought the fruit to his lips. It smelled great. He opened his mouth to take a bite but was stopped by a thought '_wherever he_ _was, was Starsky getting anything to eat? Anything to drink? Or was he now beyond those needs?'_

Dobey saw the look on the blond detective's face "Don't do that to yourself, Ken… Hutch, listen to me, you can't help him if you don't first help yourself"

"Platitudes Cap? You can't get me to eat, so you're gonna feed me PLATITUDES?" the words were spoken through gritted teeth.

Dobey rested a hand on Hutch's shoulder; he patted the knotted shoulder muscle twice "Come with me son, the BCFD just called, they extinguished a truck fire this morning, they think it was an old Dodge. Fire Chief Himsel saw the bulletin on TV and just called me. George from the lab is already headed to the scene. Not much left of it-"

Hutch was already putting on his jacket "C'mon Cap, what's the location?" his look was expectant.

"I'm not telling you. I'll drive you" Dobey checked his pockets for his keys, yep, they were there.

"Fine!" The blond snapped as he adjusted his jacket collar and headed for the squad room door.

XXXX

Hutch looked at the scene in dismay. The truck was reduced to a twisted shell. Everything that could burn or melt was gone, interior, windows, tires, everything. The responding fire trucks had driven all around the area and what evidence they hadn't destroyed, the hoses and the water did.

George wandered over "Not much to go on. I probably won't be able to find the VIN plate. The heat was intense, the plate may have melted-"

"Then why are we even here?" Hutch gestured angrily at the mess.

"Well, come here and I'll show you"

Hutch followed George to the heap and stared at it "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"Look in the truck bed"

Hutch looked sideways at the man before looking at the truck bed "Again, what am I supposed to be looking at?"

"And you're the detective" George shook his head "Look at this" he picked a blackened item out of the bed and dropped it on the ground at the detective's feet. It didn't matter if he touched anything now. He had already taken pictures and measurements.

There was no hope of finding any fingerprints or any other evidence, the fire and fire department had seen to that. Not that they meant to destroy evidence, they were just trying to do their job, which was extinguishing fires. They had done that perfectly.

"It's a shovel, minus most of the wooden handle…" Hutch's head snapped up and he looked at the truck bed again, this time seeing the wheelbarrow, minus most of it's wooden handles and rubber tire. "Gardening stuff"

"Bingo!" George smiled at the blond "You are a good detective!"

"This is the vehicle!"

"Yep, looks like, there's even some damage to the hood and the front left side of the bumper. All of the headlight and turn signal covers have melted or shattered from the heat, but this damage looks like where your partner may have impacted it…" George's enthusiasm waned as he watched the blond pale. "Sorry" he shrugged "I didn't mean-"

Hutch patted the man's arm "I know"

"I've requested a flatbed to pick it up and take it back to the lab's garage, if I find anything, anything at all, I'll call"

"Thanks George" Hutch headed back to Dobey's car.

Dobey waved him over; Hutch sped up "What?"

"A man just called the hotline and said that he just noticed his work truck for his lawn care business was missing, a brown '65 Dodge pickup, I've got the address" Dobey waved the paper with the directions on it at the blond detective.

"Terrific!" Finally, pieces were falling in place. Perhaps this man knew what had happened to his partner.

TBC

Author's notes: A VIN is a Vehicle Identification Number.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi all,

Thank you so much for the fabulous and kind reviews, wow! Right back at all of you as well. _Blush!_

**Joy Ride ch. #4**

Dobey drove away from Sam Eggleston's house. Mr. Eggleston was missing his brown '65 Dodge truck. Dobey and Hutch had arrived at the man's house to see if he had any idea about what had happened to his vehicle and how it had ended up torched in a junkyard across town.

The man had an air tight alibi. Mrs. Eggleston had had a mild heart attack and was taken to the hospital early Saturday afternoon. Mr. Eggleston had stayed by her side the whole time. He had returned home to pick up some things for his wife on Sunday when he saw the news bulletin on TV. He drove over to his work shop three blocks away and noticed his old Dodge was gone and called in on the hotline number.

Hutch stared out of the passenger window, and saw none of the scenery that Dobey drove by. After some time had passed, Hutch blinked and looked around "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you home. You need to get some sleep"

Hutch raised his finger at Dobey.

"That's an order, Hutchinson!" The big man was totally unimpressed by the blond detective's angry stare. "I am ordering you off duty for the next-" he glanced at his watch "ten hours"

Hutch opened his mouth.

"I mean it Hutchinson, you set one foot in the precinct and I will suspend you. I will also have an officer make drive bys at 'The Pits', so don't think you can drown your sorrows there"

"You can't do that. It's illegal" Hutch leaned back in the car seat and eyeballed his captain.

"Watch me. Go home, get some sleep and I will see you first thing in the morning. If anything happens, if we get a lead, a clue, anything, someone will call you"

"What about my car?"

"I had one of the patrol officer's drop it off at your apartment. Stay home tonight Hutchinson. I need you bright and alert Monday morning"

"But-"

"No buts Hutch" Dobey adjusted his grip on the steering wheel.

"Captain, d-do you think…that..." Hutch ran a hand through his now messy locks.

Dobey sighed heavily and pulled over to the curb "I don't know what to think. I know I'm not giving up. I know that to be at my best, I need to eat, drink and sleep. I also have a great deal of faith in the Lord above" Dobey put out his hand to forestall Hutch's pending interruption "I know that you are not strong in that belief, I understand. And I will pray hard enough for the both of us."

"Thanks Cap, it means a lot to me… and to Starsky"

The rest of the drive to Hutch's apartment was done in silence. Each man lost in his own thoughts. Dobey stopped in front of Venice Place and Hutch exited "Take care son, I'll see you in the morning" He knew what he would see the next day at the office. It would be one red-eyed, exhausted detective. Dobey knew he would be just as red-eyed and exhausted as the blond, come morning. Sometimes he felt like such a hypocrite.

XXXX

Hutch entered his apartment, looked out the window and just caught sight of Dobey's tail lights making a turn up the street. He placed a hand on either side of the window frame and slowly leaned forward until his brow touched the glass. The glass felt cool on his face. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep, measured breath.

He opened them and he stared off into the night "Starsky, where are you?"

XXXX

Starsky awoke to a sound. A _'whooo-whooo_' sound "Hutch! Hutch? What's that?" He sat up in his sleeping bag. Or tried to anyway. He couldn't move and when he tried, it hurt. Really hurt. He paused and panted the pain away. Instead of fading, thepain grew. He was hot. It was so hot. He tried to move the sleeping bag off his head; he managed to move it a little. Dirt fell in on him. Dirt?

"Hutch? Where are you?" pain lanced through him, he tried to curl into a ball to relieve the pain. More dirt rained down. The heat was stifling; the sleeping bag was too tight around him. This was dumb. He was trapped in his own sleeping bag. He struggled to move and the movement caused immense pain. He gasped "Hutch… help"

_"Hey, hey Starsk! What's wrong buddy?"_

Starsky was relieved to hear the smooth, gentle voice of his friend, he tried to move to see his friend and pain slashed through him, stopping him "Hurt…I h-hurt. Wh-where are we?" He opened his eyes, but could see nothing.

_"In the woods, dummy, don't ya hear the owl?"_

Starsky fought the pain back a bit "Woods? What're we doin' in th' woods?"

_"Camping"_

'_That explains the sleeping bag'_ Starsky thought "W-why am I in so much p-pain? Did a bear attack me?"

Hutch laughed, soft and low _"No, you were hit by a truck"_

That answer confused him "Hit by a… truck? Then… what am I doin' in the woods?"

_"Camping"_ Came the answer.

"Wait… if I was hit by a truck… why are we camping?" bees began to swarm around his head, he wanted to swat them but remembered, just in time, that moving hurt.

_"Oh, '**we**' aren't camping"_

"But you just said we were camping… Hutch, I-I really hurt… I think I need a doctor" sweat started to run into his eyes. The sweat mixed with the dirt and turned to mud, the gritty substance scratched at his lenses. He couldn't believe how calm Hutch was about him being in pain. "We're camping?" It didn't make any sense.

"_'**We**' aren't camping. You're the one in the woods in a sleeping bag. I'm not"_

"Wait… if I'm in the… woods… camping… and you're not in the woods… how are we talkin'?" a groan of pain issued past his clenched teeth.

"_You're delirious... I'm not really here"_

"D-delirious? W-why am I delirious? Only someone who is really sick… or hurt bad…" Starsky had to stop talking and gritted through another wave of pain. The buzzing bees droned louder in his ears.

"_Starsk… I gotta go now"_

"NO! Don't go! Ya gotta tell me w-where I am… h-how did I get here? W-why do I hurt sooo m-much?" he clenched his teeth until his jaw ached.

_"Sure buddy, I'll tell you. You're in the woods, you got hit by a truck"_ Hutch's voice started strong but faded as the sentence went on.

Starsky panicked "Hutch! Don't go! P-please… you have to tell me…why can't I seem to m-move?" he had to listen hard to hear the answer as Hutch's voiced grew quieter.

"_They buried youuuuu_" Hutch's voice then faded completely away.

_Buried?_ "Huuuutch!" Starsky's pain filled world disappeared along with his friend.

XXXX

Hutch awoke kicking his covers off his bed, he was drenched in sweat. He rubbed his chest; it ached. He then noticed he was breathing very harshly, as if he had been running really hard for a long time, it was as if he couldn't get enough air.

It was dark in his room, too dark; he reached over and snapped the bedside lamp on. That was better. He tried to remember his dream… he must have had a whopper of a nightmare to be this worked up over it. He thought hard. Nothing came to mind, just a vague, closed in feeling and a feeling of being too warm. But his room wasn't very warm and he was cooling off quickly.

He put a hand down on the bed beside him and found that both the top and bottom sheets were soaked. He glanced at the clock. Three a.m. It was Monday morning. He rolled out of bed and headed for his shower, eager to renew his search for Starsky. He would be at his desk by four a.m., to hell with what Dobey had said.

XXXX

Mel walked out of his first period class, Algebra, it was all ABC's and 1, 2, 3's to him, it was like alphabet soup, letters and numbers swirling around in a confusing bowl. When the hell was he EVER going use that stuff?

Mel was walking from Algebra class to Biology class when he heard someone call his name, looking about; he spotted Jake heading out a side door. He trotted to catch up to the other boy. He looked about, no one was around them "Hey Jake! Wait up!"

The sandy-haired boy glanced over his shoulder and gave a little nod and kept walking out the side door.

When Mel caught up with Jake, he was lighting up a cigarette. "What is it? I gotta get to my next class in two minutes" he looked at the wall clock located inside the building; he'd have to run to make it on time.

"Did Ashley call you yesterday?" The boy took a drag off the cigarette and blew the smoke out, not making eye contact with Mel.

"Yeah Jake, she called me right after the bulletin… we killed a cop!" Mel glanced around; petrified that someone might be near. Thankfully, no one was.

"No, Ashley accidentally hit him. _'We'_ didn't murder him. We helped her bury him, well; actually, we did all the digging." Jake's voice was low and almost nonchalant, but Mel knew him better than that. Jake was scared. "What did she tell you?"

Mel blushed, he wasn't gonna tell Jake that Ash had told him she was falling for him.

"She told you she loved you, didn't she?" Jake snorted and rolled his eyes; he leaned back against the school and looked at Mel.

"How'd you…?" Mel could feel his face heating up even more.

"She's told me that before, when she wanted something from me, it's her way of getting things. Don't believe her and don't trust a thing she says" Jake took another drag of the cigarette and dropped it to the ground. He took extra time grinding it into the pavement. He exhaled the smoke and looked out at the athletics' field, that grass sure looked inviting; it just begged to be walked on.

"What? Why not?" Mel now had one minute to get to class.

"She doesn't mean anything she says. Ashley looks out for Ashley, always… don't ever forget that" It was a far too nice of a day to stay in school any longer today. Jake had done what he needed to do here anyway.

"How can you say that? She's our friend" Mel shot a look at the clock, _shit!_ He was gonna be late!

"If she were really our friend, she would talk to us regardless of what anyone says" Jake made eye contact with his friend.

"No! She-"

Jake pushed away from the wall "Ashley is for Ashley, she don't give a fat rat's ass about anyone. I'm outta here" he sauntered away without looking back at Mel. He had warned Mel, if he wanted to blow off the warning… Jake shrugged and continued to walk. It was just too nice too spend anymore time inside. He began to whistle.

Mel stared after Jake. The period alarm rang. Class was in session. Mel bolted back inside and ran down the nearly empty hallway to his next class.

XXXX

SMACK!-

Mel sat up straight in his chair when the yardstick hit the desk in front of him.

"Mr. Wagner? Do you care to join in this discussion?" the teacher asked.

"Ummm, I'm sorry… I was daydreaming… what was the question?" He looked at the clock, three more minutes until class was over.

"What is the over all process of rigor mortis?"

"Rigor who-dis?" his face reddened at the other students laughed at him.

The teacher sighed "rigor mortis – it's Latin for 'stiffness of death'"

Mel was instantly interested "Could you please tell me?"

"I'll go over it one more time, it'll be on the test tomorrow, by the way…rigor mortis tends to affect the smallest muscles first, and then spread throughout the larger muscles. Typically, rigor is first apparent in the small muscles of the eyelids, then the lower jaw and neck, followed by the limbs. When rigor affects the levator muscles first, the eyelids open and the muscles stiffen. Thus, when rigor affects the orbicularis muscles shortly afterwards, the force of contraction they produce is not enough to overcome the stiffness of the levator muscles and the eyes remain open. You do not need to know all the medical terms, just the process of it" The dismissal bell rang, interrupting the teacher "Remember class, there is a test tomorrow, please be prepared"

Mel closed his book and waited until everyone else was gone "Mr. Schemid?"

The teacher turned around "What can I help you with?"

"I… was just wondering, does everything that dies get rigor morris?"

"It's rigor morTIS, and yes, pretty much everything, cats, dogs, frogs-"

"Humans?" Mel held his breath.

"Yes, humans, is that all? I can tell you more, but I don't want you to be late for your next class" Mr. Schemid looked at him.

"One more quick question, how long does it take to set in… in a human, that is?" Mel again held his breath, a cold sweat slowly starting up his spine; he could feel his heart beating faster. He hoped Mr. Schemid couldn't hear it.

"In broad terms, in warmer temperatures, it can occur as early as thirty minutes, but as long as four hours to take full effect. But remember the ambient temperature has an effect as well, it's all in chapter ten-"

"Thanks, I… uh, was just curious, gotta go… don't wanna be late for class, thank you" Mel bolted from the room and he headed off to his History class.

When he reached his desk in History, he popped open the Biology book to chapter ten and read it closely. His heart rate increased with each paragraph he read. By the end of History, he knew that the three of them had probably buried the man while he was still alive. The bell rang just in time and Mel barreled down the hall to the boys' room, where he threw up his breakfast into a toilet.

He sat on the floor for several minutes and then he climbed to his feet and searched his pockets for a dime. He had a phone call to make.

XXXX

Dobey peered out his office door as Hutchinson wandered back to his desk. He knew Hutch had come in early, so had he. He could tell by the detective's body language that the lead he had responded to was a dead end. He picked up the photos that the lab had delivered to him and took them to Hutch.

Dobey handed the envelope to the blond "Here, these are the last …er; these are the pictures that Starsky took before…"

Hutch grabbed the envelope and tore it open. Four pictures of the Torino spilled out onto the desk. He picked them up, one by one and studied them. They were beautiful, the car never looked better. He swallowed hard. "Is… is this all of them?" He stood up and walked to the file cabinet and leaned against it. He closed his eyes as the pain hit him. Those four photos might just be the last ones Starsky would ever take.

"Yep, there were no other pictures on the film… just those four" Dobey picked one picture up and stared at it.

Hutch's phone rang and he picked it up "Hutchinson… what! Transfer the call to me!" he put his hand over the mouthpiece "Pick up the other line Cap… some kid is calling, says he knows where Starsky is… Sandy? You still on the line? Put a trace on this call, record it too… you are? Great! Transfer it now"

Hutch held his breath and waited impatiently for the transfer to be made, when he heard the click, he forced himself to calm down "Hello? ...Who is this? ...Can you give me your name, please? ...Why not?" When he heard the answer, he paled and flopped down hard in the chair.

His legs had lost all strength and his stomach clenched hardwhen the boy told him about a joy ride gone wrong. And about a man they had accidentally hit, then buried. The crying boy was difficult to understand.

"Could you repeat that?" Hutch had to listen very hard to hear what the boy was saying.

_"I-I said… I d-don't think that he was… d-dead when we buried him…"_ the boy sobbed_ " we thought he was… d-dead, we really did… but in cla… but today I heard about rigor mortis"_ more heavy sobbing could be heard "_I think he m-might h-have been still alive… when we… I'm sorry, I'm sorryImsorryImsorry-"_ -CLICK-

Hutch paled, Starsky might have been ALIVE when they buried him? Oh Dear God, NO! He traded a look with his equally distraught Captain when he heard a click and then a dial tone "Hello? HELLO?" Hutch looked at Dobey "Dammit! We were disconnected…" The blond punched the buttons on the phone "Sandy? Tell me you got a trace… a partial trace? …WELL WHERE DAMMIT?" When he heard the general location, he slammed down the phone and ran for the door.

Dobey headed into his office to make the appropriate calls and had several squad cars sent to the area to assist Hutch in his search for the caller.

XXXX

Mel stared at the hand that had just disconnected his call at the public phone booth; he blinked away the tears that were blinding him and turned around to see who had interrupted his call "What the…? Ashley?"

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Hi All!

Once again, thank you so much for the encouraging and helpful reviews. This the last chapter.

Thanks to Kelli, my wonderful friend and beta.

Extra thanks to Kreek and Eli, two of my muses

To answer Jan in VA's question – I got knock out once and when I came around, I thought bees were swarming around my head, even though it was winter.

**Joy Ride Ch. 5**

Hutch hopped into his LTD, fired the ignition and stomped the accelerator to the floorboards. The beat up old car's engine moaned in protest and the tires screamed on the pavement. Smoke rolled from the tires and hung in the air for long moments after the car had departed. The sound of the siren rose and fell in volume, beseeching all to get the hell out of the way.

Hutch gripped the steering wheel so hard, that if the wheel had been made less durable material, it would have been damaged. Oh Dear God, Starsky, buried alive… The kid had sounded panicked and very sorry. Sorry wouldn't cut it though.

Hutch's eyes burned with unshed tears. Starsky had been hit sometime before seven p.m. Saturday night. Even if the kids hadn't buried him until sometime Sunday morning, Hutch speculated… Starsky would still have most likely suffocated long before now. Nope. Sorry wasn't gonna even come close to cutting it.

XXXX

"What have you done? What have you done?" Ashley was shaking so hard she had to wrap her arms around herself in an effort to try to still her own quaking movements "What did you promise…? Huh? Remember our saying… no narks, no finks, no squealers! What have you done?" she was nearly on tiptoe as she berated Mel for his stupidity.

"I'm sorry Ashley, ImsorryImsorry" Mel wiped at each eye with the back of his hands and then rubbed his running nose on his sleeve as he shook his head "H-he wasn't d-dead when we b-b-b-"

SLAP! -

Ashley's hand smacked Mel hard across the face; he rubbed at the burning sensation it left as he stared slack-jawed at her.

"You nark! You fink! You squealer! Ashley's voice was barely audible as she hissed the words at him. "Okay, okay…" she inhaled slowly to gather herself, her eyes darted around, looking at anything but the stupid fink; she had to get a grip and calm down right now. Someone might see them together and if they did, they must not see her with this loser. It just wouldn't do.

A quick glance confirmed that there wasn't anyone around, so she reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze as she gently tugged him out of the phone booth "C'mon, let's go for a walk and you can tell me why you called the police"

"That man you hit, the cop…he wasn't d-dead! He wasn't d-dead when we buried him!" Mel could hardly get the words out. His stomach heaved, but thankfully he didn't puke in front of Ashley. It would totally mess up any slim chance he had left of dating her, not to mention remaining her friend.

"How do you know that? Are you a doctor?" She closed her eyes and inhaled, she had to remain calm "Okay, sorry, I'm sorry… I am just… worried about w-what's gonna happen to you" she sniffed hard "You'll end up in j-jail and I won't ever get to see you again" she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

"Jail? I don't care about JAIL! The guy wasn't d-dead… he wasn't d-dead-" Mel couldn't stop crying. That poor man… He let Ashley pull him somewhere. It didn't matter, nothing mattered… he had killed, no, he had help to murder someone… such a horrible death too. More tears coursed down his face.

Ashley tugged him into a nearby alley, she had to get him as far away from the phone booth as possible, cops traced calls, especially hotline numbers, she wasn't sure how long it took for them to trace it… The sound of a police siren far in the distance prompted her to tug harder on stupid Mel's stupid arm. She had to hurry so she could get back to class before her lunch break was over. Why did Mel have to be so stupid? He was ruining everything.

She urged him still further down the alley; she could hear more sirens. Not a good sign, not at all. Mel stopped walking, leaned against one of the alley walls and slid down to sit in the garbage. She tugged at him.

"I can't… I can't go any further, what have we done?" Mel leaned over and wretched, soupy bile came out.

_Gross._ Ashley tugged on Mel's arm again, but was not strong enough to budge him. She crouched beside him and rubbed his arm and watched him cry for a few precious minutes. "Why did you make that call, Mel? You knew you could talk to me… that you could call me, I told you I would be able to listen… Why did you call _them_ instead? Can you tell me?"

Mel tried to regain control and stop crying. Ashley was waiting for an answer "I couldn't wait until I got home to call. That poor man… we thought he was dead when we buried him. That was bad enough, b-but then in Biology today, I heard about rigor mortis… that's when I realized… I realized that he wasn't d-dead when w-we put him… when, when we b-buried him, he wasn't dead… I had to tell, I had too! My God, we _k-killed_ him" Mel's tears started anew.

"Wait a minute, how do you know he wasn't dead?… Are you a doctor? Huh? Are you? I touched his neck. I didn't feel anything… he was dead Mel, he really was. Come on now, we gotta get back to school before lunch break is over and they miss us." She looked at her wristwatch. There was a little less then a half hour before break was over.

"He wasn't dead I tell you!" Mel shouted, "He wasn't, he wasn't! We killed him! We buried him ALIVE!" he buried his head in his arms "Don't you get it Ash? We're murders, we deserve to go to jail for that… we buried him alive" his whole body shook with the force of his sobs.

"No Mel, you're wrong, we didn't kill him, it was an accident… we didn't mean it… we aren't murders, we didn't mean for it to happen, but it did" She leaned over and gave him a hug "I still love you Mel, but I can't love you if your in jail… Don't you see? We can't be together if we're in prison."

"But we KILLED a man! That guy wasn't dead. We drove around for almost two hours before we got to the place where we b-buried him. Remember when we put him in the wheelbarrow? He was limp. When we dumped him onto the ground… he was limp… After almost two hours of digging his g-grave" Mel sobbed, then continued, "He was still limp w-when we rolled him in…in the… at least four hours… it was at least four hours from the time you hit him until we b-b-buried… an-an- and covered him up… four HOURS Ash! Four! According to Mr. Schemid, that's how long it t-t-takes for a b-body to get totally stiff… a-arms…legs… back… stiff, but he was still LIMP Ash! Limp! We're murders, Ash… all three of us killed that man. We deserve to go to jail" Mel again slumped down and buried his face in his crossed arms.

Ashley stared at Mel. He was gonna tell. He was gonna ruin everything. She couldn't let that happen "Mel, you're right… let's go… c'mon, get up, we have a call to make"

Mel slowly rose and let Ashley guide him down the alley, tears still streaming down his face. "Okay Ashley… I'm sorry about all this" he waved a hand "It's the right thing to do… we should have done this right away… you know that, don't you Ash?"

"Yeah, I know… I'm sorry too" She opened her purse and pulled out a baseball cap and stuffed her hair up under it than grabbed Mel's hand "Okay, I'm ready now… I saw a pop machine a couple blocks away… can we stop and get a can before we make that call? I'm really thirsty"

Mel smiled at her through his tears "Sure Ashley, I'm kinda thirsty myself"

"Good" Ashley squeezed his hand and headed through the back alleys towards the pop machine.

XXXX

Hutch turned off his siren as he approached the three-block area. The other squads headed to the scene did the same. They didn't want to spook the caller, if he was still in the area. The APB for this area was for an upset, possibly crying, teenage, Caucasian male. Talk about a needle in a haystack.

There were fourteen public phone booths and ten in-store payphones that the call could have come in on. Hutch ran a hand through his hair. They had to find that kid and find out where Starsky was buried. He had to bring his friend home.

To cover as much ground in as little time as possible and so as not to frighten the boy off, or raise suspicions, the responding officers spread out in pairs, with the exception of Hutch. He didn't want a partner. He already had one. Somewhere.

Time slipped away. After over an hour, all of the possible phones and the area surrounding them, had been checked. Several locals had seen boys making calls around the time that the boy in question had called, however, there were always boys in the area at that time. Most of the students of Bay City Central High had lunch break right around that time. There were always lots of teenage boy and girls in that area at that same time.

The search was a failure. Hutch could only hope that the boy would call again and give more details. He had called once; perhaps he would call again. Hutch could only pray that the kid would have another attack of conscience. He reluctantly headed back to his precinct. Maybe, if he listened to the recording, he could pick something else up out of the phone call, the boy might have left a clue in it as to who he was and where he had made the call.

XXXX

"Hey kid! Get up! You shouldn't be back there! Hey! Didn't you hear me? I said get up!" The storeowner set down his bags of trash and approached the kid cautiously; you could never tell how a drugged up teen would react to being woken up.

"Come on kid… a dirty back alley is no place to crash… kid?" The man walked slowly up to the boy and kicked an outstretched leg and got no response. He then looked at the kid's face and saw that his eyes were open. He grew nauseous as he watched a fly walk on an unblinking eyeball "oh shit"

XXXX

Hutch was almost back to the precinct when the call came in about a dead boy found in the area that they had been checking payphones and booths in. Hutch slapped his mars light on the roof of the LTD, hit the siren and pulled a u-turn. He had a very bad feeling about this.

XXXX

Over two hours later, Hutch made it back to his desk. He sat down heavily, put his elbows on the desk and buried his face in his palms of his hands. There was no evidence that the boy was the caller. But it seemed likely. There was no obvious trauma to the boy; it would be up to the coroner to determine the cause of death. Hutch was leaning towards a possible suicide. God help him if that kid was the caller, who, in a fit of remorse hadkilled himself.

'_Let it be just some other kid that died, not the one I need to get the information from, please, I need that kid to find Starsky's…to find Starsky'_ He knew he was being mean spirited in his thoughts, but he couldn't help himself. He might never find the body of his friend without the caller calling back.

His phone rang. Hutch stared at it. It rang again. He closed his eyes and picked up the phone "Hutchinson" His heart stopped when a boy spoke.

"_You the cop from the news bulletin on Sunday?"_ The voice was muffled, as if he had a rag or something over the mouthpiece.

"Yes-" Hutch waved to Dobey as he exited his office, his pointed at his handset and waved that he wanted a trace on the call and a recording if possible. Dobey nodded and set about the task.

"_Shut up and listen, I know about tracing calls an stuff, so I gonna keep this short. I know who hit that cop…"_

"He was my friend-"

"_Well, she killed my friend today, she killed them both"_ the caller's voice broke.

"Who is _'she'_?"

"_Ashley Ann Adams, you got that, cop? Ashley Ann Adams"_ The boy's voice was firm, angry_. "I warned him not to trust her… I warned him, I told him she was dangerous… he didn't listen, so she killed him"_ the voice broke again. _"He was my only friend, my only **real** friend and I let him down… my best friend and that bitch killed him! I saw her! She gave him something… put something in his pop… I-I watched…I was too far away… I watched him drink it… I was watching… and I didn't do a thing to stop her… she's gotta be stopped! Ashley Ann Adams… don't forget it"_

"I won't, can you tell me where my-" Hutch's voice cracked, he cleared his throat and started again "do you know where Starsky, _my friend_ is buried?"

"_Your friend… I didn't stop to think about the guy having friends… or family… She was driving, Ashley was, she hit him… yeah, we helped her put him in the truck and we buried him, but she was the one that hit him… she was driving, she stole it outta some guy's yard business. She checked to see if the guy was dead… she touched his neck… he was dead, she said so… we buried him at the Girl Scout camp, we put him in a wheelbarrow and pushed him down a path… what was the name of it? It was a stupid name… 'Happy' something… 'Happy…'? I'm gonna hang up now, I'm talkin' too long… you should be able to find him, he's on the left side of that 'Happy' path" _–click-

"Wait! Son? Don't hang up… how far do we go down this 'Happy' path?... Hello?" Hutch heard the click then the dial tone "SHIT! Tell me you got a trace… a full trace?" He looked at Dobey. The big man had a smile on his face.

"Yep, we'll do a run down on it, I'll send a squad to the place and I'll put out an APB for this Ashley Ann Adams, with any luck, she'll give us the names of the boys…." Dobey looked up just in time to see Hutch exit the squad room. Dobey would make the calls and have the fire department and local police meet Hutch at the Girl Scout camp, which he knew was almost two hours away. He would tell them that they had a body to search for.

XXXX

Starsky dug at the hole he had made. It was just a little hole. He still couldn't see the sky. But he could hear the birds chirping, so it must be daytime still… not that it mattered. Sometimes he wondered why digging, like now. Hutch had told him that he had been buried. You only buried dead people. So… if only dead people were buried… that must mean he was dead. But he didn't feel dead. He felt pain. Did the dead feel pain?

Maybe he was a zombie… digging his way out of the grave to eat the flesh of the living… Or maybe he was now a vampire… and was going to drink blood when he got out. Yuck, Both options were disgusting. He stopped digging. He didn't feel the need to eat. Drinking would be nice… not blood though, a big glass of water. Cool, sweet water… or maybe a beer… or lemonade… anything like that sounded really good… water sounded best of all, though. He could almost taste it. Mmm, water… Consciousness tiptoed away from him.

XXXX

Hutch pulled into the parking lot of the Girl Scout camp. He knew that Dobey had called for the local department to aid in the search and he knew he should wait for them to get there and set up a grid search and a hundred other things. But he couldn't wait. Starsky was out there and he wanted to be the one to find him. It was important.

It would be one small way to make up for his thinking that Starsky had taken Cindy and Bambi out without him. Maybe if he had not thought that, maybe he could have found Starsky sooner, maybe Starsky would have had stood a small chance of being alive, even after being buried. It could have happened. There was no chance of it now, of course. Even if there had been a small air pocket around his body, that little bit of oxygen would have been used up hours ago. Hutch dropped his head and tried to blink the tears away.

He lifted his head. He would cry later. He strengthened his resolve and looked for a directory or something to tell him the trail names… these places always had some. This was especially true of places that were designed for children to use.

He walked around the parking lot. There! He saw a sign and trotted towards it. He stopped and looked at the ground, he continued to check the dirt for a wheelbarrow trail… they would have probably parked close to the trail and then pushed him in… most likely not that far down the trail. He looked about for a path and a sign for that path.

When he saw it, he read 'Happy Trails Path' that had to be it. He found the print of the wheelbarrow. He dashed back to his car and got out his folding camping shovel and his yellow 'Police Line Do Not Cross' caution tape and wrapped it around the area so people wouldn't walk on it and disturb the evidence. It would also alert the searchers to the direction that he had taken.

When he had done that, Hutch continued down the trail, taking care to walk on the grass. So he wouldn't damage any possible footprints the teens had left. He kept his eyes glued on the wheelbarrow tire tracks, but the path was hard packed and the trail disappeared several times. He had to back track and find it again. He kept looking to the left side of the trail, but didn't discount the right side. In his panic, the boy might have been mistaken about which side of the path that he really meant. In the distance, he could just make out the wail of sirens and knew that the search teams would soon be on the scene.

He kept walking. The tracks stopped again. Shit! He was a lot further down the path then he had expected to go. Maybe he had gone too far. Maybe he should go back and coordinate with the search team. He looked up the trail, then back down the trail. He needed to sit down for a minute and think. Just to clear his head. He looked about for a stump or a large rock.

He peered through a break in the undergrowth and spotted a downed log about twenty feet in. He made for it and sat down. He found himself in a small clearing. It was tiny, really. He sat on the log. Such a pretty place and now the beauty of it was tarnished with the body of his friend.

Happy Trail. How ironic. His, bright, boisterous friend had been buried woods just off of a trail called 'Happy Trails' He let out a bitter laugh. He could remember that song from when he was a child; Roy Rogers and Dale Evens would sing it at the end of their TV show… now how did that song go again?

"Happy trails to you… until we meet again…" Hutch's voice broke. That once happy song wasn't so happy anymore. He stopped singing and burst into tears, burying his face in his hands. Though he didn't want it to, the song continued to go through his head. Only it didn't sound like Roy or Dale singing it. It sounded… muffled… quiet. He turned his head and listened intently. The singing stopped. Then he heard.

"C'mon… what's th' next verse… Hutch? I can't seem to remember…"

"Starsky?" Hutch held his breath and listened carefully for an answer. After a few minutes had gone by he shook his head. He must have imagined it.

"What's th' next… part? I can't remember… maybe we could sing 'Kumby yah'… or is it 'Kum Ba Yah'? Or maybe… some other stupid camping song… Could you… hand me that canteen? 'M real thirsty… Hutch? Don't go again… HUUUTCH!"

Hutch shot to his feet and spun in a circle, looking for the source "STARSKY! STARSKY! Keep talking buddy! Keep talkin'" he listened intently for an answer.

"Huh… normally ya want me ta shut up… now yer askin' me… ta keep talkin'… W-wish you would… m-make up your… m-mind…. 'M really thirsty, it's sooo hot… Hutch… could ya hand me that canteen…"

Hutch followed the sound to a small rise in the forest floor. It was well camouflaged with leaves and branches "Starsky? C'mon buddy! Say something…"

"Somethin'… Don't go away… again, Hutch please? I can't… be alone any longer… come back… p-please, please come back!"

Hutch's heart broke as he heard his friend start to cry, "I'm here partner, I'm here! I'll get you out… just hold on for just a little bit" Hutch pounced on the little mound and started to push the leaves and branches off of it. When something grabbed his hand, he let out a startled yelp.

He looked down and saw a dirt-encrusted hand clamped around his wrist. Starsky had dug a little hole out of his grave. Hutch stared at it in dumbfounded and aghast. "Oh God… my God… Starsky…" Hutch found himself staring at his friend's hand the fingernails were damaged, some of them down to the quick; one finger was missing its nail entirely. Dear God in Heaven… Starsky had attempted to dig himself out of his own grave…

Hutch swallowed hard "I gotcha, Starsk… I'm right here… I'll get you out" the tears flowed and he carefully dug his friend out of his premature grave with his free hand. The little camping shovel made quick work of the loose soil. It would have been quicker to let go of Starsky's hand and dig with both hands, but he just couldn't do it. Starsky's hand was hot and damp with sweat. Hutch continued to dig one-handed.

The stench that wafted out of that horrible little pit was powerful, poor Starsky had had bodily functions in there… this was a good sign as far as things were, it meant his kidneys and other vital functions were still working or at least had been working… but Dear God in Heaven… to have to have lived… lived Hell, to have existed in your own grave…? Hutch choked back his anger at the teens. He would deal with them soon enough. "I got ya Starsk… I've got ya…" he gave the hand a squeeze.

"Don' go… Hutch… don' go again… I-I can't do… do it… can't make a-any more…" Starsky clawed at his friend's hand "P-please… don' go…" he clamped his hand harder onto the blond's.

"Shush… I've got ya buddy… 'm not goin' anywhere without you… you hear me? I don't want you to go anywhere either?" Hutch carefully eased Starsky out of the horrible hole in the ground. Then realizing he was going to need help getting Starsky to the hospital, he pulled out his gun and shot three times in the air to bring the searchers to him.

Hutch then very carefully pulled his friend's head and shoulders into his lap and he gently stroked the dirty curls "I've got ya, buddy. I've got ya" his tears started to flow again.

Hutch looked downat Starsky's dirty face, tears had cleaned two small tracks down his cheeks and Hutch gently stroked them with the backs of his knuckles. The lashes fluttered and the midnight blue eyes tried to focus on the light blue ones.

"P-please don' leave me…alone again… p-please?" more tears trickled down the brunet's face and his hand scrambled for a hold on Hutch's shirt.

"Never" Hutch heard the voices of the searcher calling and he hollered back. Once he was sure that they were bringing a stretcher, his returned his attention to Starsky. "Help's on the way, Starsk… help is on the way" His carefully ruffled the dirty curls.

Dark lashes fluttered and midnight eyes focused on his blond friend for an all-to-brief moment "I th-think it's all ready h-here" and he smiled at Hutch as he lost consciousness once more.

XXXX

_2weeks later, Memorial Hospital, Bay City_

"Well, I'm ready to bust outta here! Get a nurse and grab a wheelchair!" Starsky smiled at Hutch "C'mon… what's the hold up? A hold up?"

"Oh, ha - ha, nope… I've got someone who wants to say something to you" Hutch looked back out of the door "It's okay, c'mon in…"

Jake Smith stared hard at the floor as he entered the room. This was the hardest thing he had ever done. Bar none.

Starsky stared at the teen. Part of him was very angry. The other part was unsure of just how to feel.

"Well?" Hutch prompted the boy.

"I'm s-sorry, I – I … I can't do this!" Jake wheeled about on one heel and prepared to make a run for it.

Starsky found the words "Jake? What you did was wrong. But you saw the error and you tried to fix it. You were too late to save your friend. But you saved me… I forgive you"

Jake stood there his head down and with his back to the detectives. He realized then that a great deal of what he had thought about the world, was wrong. Not everyone just looked out for themselves and he had learned that if you did nothing, you could lose your friends.

Ashley Ann Adams would be tried for the murder of Melvin Wagner. She had poisoned him. He could have stopped her. Jake's head dipped even lower. Detective Starsky had yet to say if he would be dropping his charges against him.

"The question now is… can you forgive yourself?" Starsky looked at Hutch and Hutch knew that those words were meant for him as well as Jake Smith; he smiled and nodded at Starsky. Starsky smiled back at him "That's enough soap for one day, whaddya say we go for pizza? Hutch is buying!"

"WHAT?"

The End.


	6. Epilog

Hi again All,

Normally, when I'm done writing a story, I'm done. No amount of asking will change my mind. However, there were a few lingering questions in this one, so I'm adding a chapter. I hope that this takes care of most of your questions. I am very flattered that so many of you enjoyed this story so much that you wanted more of it. _–blush-_

FYI's- At work, I need to write concisely, but I'm trying to learn to write… er… lengthier? As for this chapter, I'm sure you will let me know if I got it right, or not… That's what I love about you guys _–grin-_

Special thanks to Kreek, you always give me the best advice buddy! You, of course, were correct again - no surprise there! Hugs!

**Joy Ride – Epilog **

"I wish we coulda convinced Jake to go with us to get pizza" Starsky watched the troubled teen walk away from the hospital parking lot. Poor kid, he was at a crossroad in his life and no clear directions on how to find the right path, he had, for the moment, stumbled onto the right path. It had cost the kid dearly, the life of his best friend.

Starsky shook his head at the retreating figure. The kid had come through for him and for that he was grateful. Some people might not understand why he had chosen to forgive Jake. But for him, it was easy. When it came down to it, the boy did the right thing. A little late… almost too late… but he had come through just the same.

Add in the fact that Jake was not known as an upstanding citizen, that he was far more likely to be known for ditching school and had one petty theft charge on the books. Ashley Ann Adams, on the other hand, had no such charges and was a straight 'A' student who was known to visit the elderly and donate her time to other charitable causes. For now, it was Jake's word against Ashley's. The word of a pretty, young, rich, helpful girl or a not so handsome, poor, thieving boy, it was an easy guess which one the jury would believe.

The district attorney would have to go with the strongest case. With any possible evidence burned away in the truck fire and with Starsky unable to remember anything about the accident or what had happened to him until he had been found, meant that there was no real way to prove who had been in the stolen the truck. Only Jake and Mel had called the hotline and Jake had known where Starsky was buried, proof that he was aware of the crime, if not guilty of committing it.

Starsky had decided to wait to press any possible charges of his hit and run and attempted murder. He had some time yet to do that and perhaps, given a little time, he might recall more events of that day, hopefully before the statute of limitations ran out.

But, in the case against Ashley for murdering Mel, she had made a mistake… she had left one fingerprint on Mel's pop can, that single fingerprint was the _only_ one on the can. It seemed unlikely that Mel had drunk the poison then wiped the can clean of prints before dying. Why would someone who was supposedly committing suicide to that? If she was convicted of murdering Mel, then the case against the hit and run and attempted murder of Starsky would stand a better chance in court. Then Jake's word against her's would vastly improve. Time would tell.

"Starsk, ya know, I don't like you leaving the hospital so soon" The blondderailed Starsky's train of thought.

"I told ya Hutch, I just couldn't stay there one more day. Besides, the doc had no objections as long as I take it easy" he grinned at the blond as he adjusted his aching left leg into a more comfortable position, he would need his pain meds soon.

"Ha! You, taking it easy…" Hutch negotiated evening traffic with extra care; he didn't want anything to happen to his friend on the trip home. "That's an oxymoron, Starsk"

Starsky rolled his eyes at the blond "You've been reading Reader's Digest's 'Ways to Colorful Speech' section again, haven't ya?"

Hutch laughed "Well, I had to do _something_ while you were sleeping" the thought of watching his friend recovering in the days after exhuming him made the blond break into a cold sweat. The word 'exhuming' positively made his flesh crawl.

Starsky was watching out the window and did not notice the change in his friend. "Well, I will, you just watch me… I'll be fine, you'll see" Starsky looked out the window at the setting sun. "Look at that view… it's just beautiful" he exhaled and closed his eyes. They were right, a near death experience could make one stop and smell the roses, or in this case, the smog. But it was ocean-scented smog. He grinned to himself.

Hutch looked worriedly at his friend. He still was having trouble dealing with what had happened to Starsky and how he had found him. It made him want to vomit just thinking about it. And now he was commenting on the beauty of the day? Something was definitely wrong. "Are you okay? Anythingwrong?"

Starsky snorted "Ya keep askin' me that and I keep tellin' you, I'm fine"

"Starsky… how can you be FINE? You were BURIED ALIVE!" Hutch pounded the steering wheel with his hand.

"Pull over" was the quiet reply.

"What?" Hutch peered over at the brunet, trying to determine what might be paining him… his cracked ribs? Concussion? Broken arm? Was it the torn ligaments in his knee? Or perhaps it was the pressure sores that had developed once Starsky had been buried and unable to change positions for days…

Hutch worriedly went back over the list of things that the doctor had told him to watch for in his friend. Had he missed any signs or symptoms? _'I just knew leaving the hospital early was wrong but nooo; Starsky wouldn't listen to me. Just had to have things his way, regardless of the consequences…' _

"I said PULL OVER" Louder, firmer

"There IS something wrong! I knew it! I told you it was too soon, that's IT!… It's back to the hospital for you!" Hutch hit the turn signal and watched for traffic as he prepared to pull a u-turn and head back the way they had come.

Starsky looked around and noticed that they were three blocks from Venice Place, so… Hutch _wasn't _taking him out for pizza… he would holler at the blond about that later, right now he had a more important thing to deal with, and that was one very upset partner.

"Hutch, just take me to your apartment, I don't need to go back to the hospital and at any rate, you're too upset to get me there safely. I'm still recovering from the last auto accident I was in" He lightened his tone to calm the blond.

It was obvious that Hutch was suffering and Starsky knew that he had to deal with the situation now. That was one of the reasons he wanted out of the hospital, that and get some REAL food and to get some real sleep. _I mean, how did they ever expect you to recover from anything when they woke you up all the time?_ _Couple that with not being in a familiar place and in pain…it was impossible to recover there. _The hospital had been a far too public place for such a private conversation. You never knew who would pop in for a visit. Nope, this had to be done somewhere where no interruptions were possible.

Hutch looked worriedly at Starsky "Are you sure? I mean, really sure that you don't want to go back?"

"Positive, just get me to your place" with the minor disaster averted, Starsky gave some thought on how to deal with Hutch and his problem.

XXXX

Maneuvering up the steps to Hutch's apartment was painful, but now it was over. The sweat rolled down Starsky's face as he leaned more on Hutch for support. His whole left side was ablaze with pain. He gritted his teeth, determined not to let it show.

Hutch, aware of the agony his friend was not voicing, eased the brunet into his apartment and straight to his bed "Just a little further… I knew it was too soon-"

Starsky cut him off "If you say 'I told you so' one more time… I'm gonna spit on ya" the words were issued through clenched teeth.

"Spit? What are you? A camel?" Hutch smiled gently at his hurting friend.

"Nope, it's just that everything on my left side hurts, so I can't risk injuring my right hand… so spitting is the only weapon I've got left to use" He waggled his eyebrows at the blond.

Hutch snorted then eased Starsky into bed and helped him get comfortable, he started to move away to get a washcloth to get rid of the sweat that had accumulated on his friend's face when Starsky grabbed his hand. Hutch looked at the hand and its still visibly damaged fingernails. The finger that was missing its nail drew his attention the most. God… that had to have hurt… he swallowed hard.

"Hutch?" Starsky knew it was time to talk as he watched the blood drain out of the blond's face. "Hutch?" he tugged gently on the long-fingered hand.

"What?" the blond couldn't tear his eyes off of the damaged hand, once again seeing it as he had that day when he had dug his friend out of his make-shift grave. The dirt, blood, the fever induced heat and sweat that had covered it… he could remember the feel of it and the smell… Oh God, the smell… it filled his nostrils even now.

"Hutch? Sit down" Starsky released Hutch's hand and patted the bed next to him "Sit before you fall down, please?"

The blond continued to stare, unblinking at his hand. He felt Starsky give it a squeeze. He blinked and made eye contact "Did you say something?"

Starsky merely patted the bed again with his right hand and sighed when the blond joined him. They sat, silently, shoulder to shoulder for several minutes. _Where to begin?_ "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Hutch threw a quizzical look to his left at the tired and hurting detective beside him.

"Why didn't you tell me how much this really has been bothering you?"

Starsky slid slightly to his right and touched shoulders with him, all the while continuing to look into his eyes. Hutch mentally scrambled to hide his concerns.

"Starsk, you're talking in riddles, what are you asking me?" He tried to hold eye contact but failed under the intense gaze of midnight blue eyes. Even after two weeks, the left one had some remaining discoloration from the bruise that had once colored the whole socket. He felt his heart twist in his chest. He remembered that it had been so swollen that his friend could hardly see out of it for days.

Starsky eased his right arm over Hutch's shoulder "You didn't tell me how much finding me that way… bothered you… so talk to me… tell me"

Hutch knew what Starsky was doing now… he should have known better than to try to hide his worries for so long. Starsky _always_ caught on and rarely let go when he was onto something that Hutch was trying to hide. "D-do you remember anything?"

The dark head shook in a negative fashion "I've told you before, no. The last thing I clearly remember before the accident was that I was taking a picture of my car. My next _somewhat_ clear memory was that I was in a lot of pain and staring up at your face… I remember trees, the smell of the pines, tarp and dirt. That's all. The doc said I may never remember due to my head injury and from the look on your face, I don't think I wanna remember. But you _do_ remember and it's really bothering you. You have circles under your eyes, you're not sleeping and you have lost a some weight"

"If I were a girl, I would be happy about the last part" Hutch smiled weakly.

"And the other part?" Starsky patted Hutch's right arm lightly and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

"I… don't wanna talk about it" He looked away, out the window and to his plants.

"Too bad, spill it" implacable.

"no" the word was whispered and he looked anywhere but at his friend, almost frantic to keep away from the dark blue eyes that would make him confess his fears.

"Tell me what happened. Maybe it'll jog my memory" Starsky pinned him with a stern gaze.

"Good God! I don't want you to remember THAT! It was horrible… they _buried_ you! I-I h-had to dig-dig you out of your GRAVE!" Hutch's breath came in pants and he fought to control his stutter. It was a dead giveaway to how much something bothered him. And this whole thing had bothered him a great deal. He scrunched his eyelids down tight and much to his embarrassment, felt moisture collecting behind them.

Starsky closed his own eyes for a moment. He had to hear what had happened, he had to know for himself, but mostly he had to hear because Hutch had to get it off his chest. "Go on, tell me"

Hutch sat for a moment, quietly trying to control himself and trying to organize his thoughts "I don't know where to begin… I-I…" He faltered, but the words wouldn't come. He closed his eyes again.

"You told me that Melvin Wagner had called you first, start there"

He felt Starsky lean a little more into him and then felt his friend eased his right arm from around his shoulder and he watched as Starsky adjusted his left arm into a more comfortable position. He closed his eyes to the pain that the sight gave him. Poor Starsk, not admitting to how much pain he was actually in, it was typical of Starsky, when he hurt a little, he was such a baby about it. When he hurt a lot… nothing could make him talk about it.

Hutch then leaned back against the headboard and stared at the ceiling for a long moment. The feelings he had felt when he had gotten that call rushed back over him "It was the worst day in my life… w-when he t-told me that he… that he… thought that they had b-buried you alive… and the boy was crying so hard… I c-couldn't understand him… I didn't WANT to understand him. God! The thought that you had not only been injured… but that you had suffocated... that you were b-buried ALIVE! As soon as I got done with the call, I got out of the squad room and puked in a garbage can. I-I could just p-picture you, gasping for air… begging for h-help and dieing all alone…in… in a cold, unmarked, grave…"

Tears leaked out of the corners of Hutch's eyes and ran down the sides of his face and into his hair. "Then I got mad… I wanted to find that kid and shake him silly, knock some sense into… or out of him… Starsk, I think I woulda actually hurt that boy, if I'd a found him b-before… you know" he flipped a hand in a helpless gesture.

"Yeah, I know… go on babe" Starsky thumbed a tear off of Hutch's face "But knowing you, I don't think you would'vereally hurt him… you woulda scared the _crap_ outta him though, you're a scary guy when you're angry… ahhh… buy your eyes get sooo beau-ti-ful" Starsky's kidding lightened the mood a bit.

Hutch snorted, it was a watery, half-hearted snort. "Then, as we left the area, we got called back to investigate a teenage boy's death… my heart crashed and I had the feeling that I might never f-find your bo-… find you"

Starsky reach back over the blond's shoulders and gave him a one-armed hug. "S'okay, buddy… s'okay…"

"NO DAMMIT! It's NOT okay! It's NOT" he leaned away "Those stupid brats ran you over and BURIED you! ALIVE!" He palmed away the tears that streamed off his face as his anger rose. "They weren't gonna tell anyone…" he clenched his teeth and could hear them grind together.

"Two of them told-" Starsky wasn't surprised when Hutch cut him off. He wanted Hutch to get all of his feeling out into the open, confront them, so he could move on and so that he could heal. Hutch was as much a victim of this mess as he was. But he was the only one that seemed to recognize it.

"Yeah! One out of guilt because he heard about rigor mortis and realized you weren't DEAD when they b-buried you… the other did it for revenge! Revenge! A totally selfish motive-"

"Right, selfish and we've _never_ done that ourselves? Ever? Hmmm?" The curly haired detective nudged his friend and gave him a look that said _'_we've done that and you know it'

Hutch shifted agitatedly for a moment, scanning the room again.

"Tell me about how you found me"

So, Starsky wanted details. He would have a need to fill in the blanks. Hutch recalled how he had mentioned Jake calling and following Jake's directions to Starsky's gravesite. It still felt odd to say that. This was the part he was avoiding. This was the part that was giving him trouble. How does one go about tell their best friend how they found their grave and dug them out? And _still_ have their friend around to hear the tale?

"I don't wanna talk about this any more" Hutch sat up and got off the bed. He walked away and ran fingers through his hair. He could once more smell the dirt, blood and pine scent. He paced restlessly.

He felt Starsky watching him while he paced like a caged animal.

"Hutch?"

The blond stopped pacing and looked over at his friend, propped up in bed, watching him. "I… I… can't" he turned away. Shoulders hunched, head down "I… just… can't" Hutch could feel Starsky watching him as he struggled with himself for a while, then Starsky spoke.

"Why not? Did you do something wrong?"

He hunched his shoulders some more "no" had he missed something? He quickly went over the scene in his head and then Starsky interrupted his thoughts with another question.

"Did you fail in some way?"

"No… yes…" Hutch choked out the response, it was whispered and he felt his hands burying themselves in pockets, hiding. Like he wanted to hide.

"Which is it? Yes or no?"

Hutch felt a little angry and he lifted his shoulders a bit and squared them "You're not lettin' this go, are you?" his hands clenched into fists in his pockets.

"Nope"

"Why do you want to hear this? You don't need to know… know how… h-how…" His shoulders slumped again.

"Yes, I _do_ need to know"

"Why?" _'Why do you want to know the horror that you went though? Why, Starsky?'_

"Because it's bothering you. If it bothers you, it bothers me… spill it"

Hutch slowly turned around and dipped his head, lifting his brows in a concerned and sorry manner. The brunet had nailed him with that one.

Starsky patted the bed.

Hutch shook his head 'no' and began pacing the room again when he heard a small noise behind him, he turned in time to see Starsky attempting to get out of bed, the brunet gritted his teeth and started to ease his way across the bed to the edge.

"Hey! What do you think your doing?" The blond detective hurried to the bedside.

"Coming to you"

"Why?" Hutch paused in confusion.

"You came for me when I needed you, you need me so…" The words hung in the room.

Hutch dipped his head and closed his eyes "You're not gonna let this drop… are you?"

"Nope"

Hutch sighed heavily "Move over a little… prepare yourself for a bad bedtime story" He reached over and ruffled the curls.

"Oh boy! I LOVE bad bedtime stories" Starsky carefully clapped his hands in glee.

Hutch rolled his eyes "Move over please" he proceeded to help the brunet into a comfortable position. "Once upon a time…"

"Oh, I just know this is gonna be good!" Starsky rubbed his hands together.

"Starsky… you interrupt again and it's straight to sleep for you" he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his friend.

Starsky motioned that he was 'zipping his lip' and then threw the imaginary key away.

Hutch snorted, rolled his eyes and proceed with his narrative.

Starsky didn't interrupt for a long time. His heart ached with shared pain as Hutch told him how he had found him. "You sang and I sang with you?" His brows furrowed at the thought… that part seemed familiar, he thought hard… yes… he closed his eyes and concentrated "'Happy Trails'… I think I remember hearing you singing 'Happy Trails' to me… no… with me…"

"You do?" Oh, God… the worst part… terror and joy. Hutch wanted desperately to forget that part. Terror that he had lost his mind as well as his friend and the joy that in the madness, he could still have his friend. He listened as Starsky continued on with what he had remembered.

"Yeah… I think it's coming back to me… I think" Starsky closed his eyes and concentrated "Yeah… I think I thought we were camping and you… started to sing that song… I joined in… I remember being thirsty, hot and really thirsty… and I couldn't remember the words…"

Hutch closed his eyes to the pain that the memory gave him and proceeded to sing the song. He could once more smell the scent of the forest…hear the birds chirping, leaves rustling and hear the muffled voice of his friend joining him. _Dear God…_ the thought made his voice waver and nearly break. But, as he continued to sing, he could hear that Starsky's voice wasn't muffled this time, it was clear and close. His friend was right next to him. Starsky had no trouble remembering the lyrics.

They finished the song and smiled at each other for a long moment.

Hutch's smile wavered and fell into little pieces, he couldn't hold back anymore and he started to cry, his shoulders shook with the force of his grief and he turned to Starsky's side and put his arms around his friend and cried louder. Great, heaving pain-filled gasps escaped from him. It had been to near a thing. According to the doctor, a couple more hours in that hole and he would have been dead.

Hutch began to relive the event. It was as if it happening all over again. The fear he felt in that instant that Starsky's hand popped out of the tiny hole and grabbed his wrist. He could see the pitiful, damaged hand grabbing his wrist… hear the muffled, pain-filled voice issuing from the grave… he remembered the death grip Starsky had maintained on him the whole time as he dug his best friend out of the ground… Starsky's grip had left bruises on his arm.

He felt Starsky return the hug, gently moving his casted left arm around his back and clutching him hard with his good right arm "That's it… let it out… s'okay… s'okay now" the voice was muffled again, but this time the interference wasn't dirt caused.

At those words, Hutch tightened up his grip and heard Starsky stifle a groan of pain "Oh! I'm sorry!" He leaned back and looked at the brunet's face, studying it to judge how much pain Starsky was in.

"Hutch, s'okay… how're you doin'? Feel any better now?" Dark blue eyes searched his own.

Starsky, always more worried about him than he worried about himself. Hutch peered back into the dark blues as he wiped his tears away "Much better Doctor Sigmund Freud Starsky" he let out a little laugh at his joke.

"That vil be vne hundred dollars, please" Starsky put his hand out as though to accept the money as he did his best/worst German accent.

"Starsky, that was terrible" Hutch eased away and leaned against the headboard again.

"So, you vil not pay me? I shall hav to sue you" He arched a brow at the blond.

"Ugh! Terrible… give it a rest already! Please!"

"S'not as terrible as my hunger…" Starsky rubbed his empty stomach, which growled loudly in response "See? I'm very hungry… soon, my pet, soon" he patted his belly again.

Hutch rolled his eyes and got up and moved across the room.

"Vhere are you go-ink?"

"STOP doing that!" Hutch continued to walk away.

"Vhat are you up to?" Starsky made the dialect worse.

"Please… give it a rest, please?" Hutch begged as he made his way to the phone. There was one sure way to shut his friend up.

"But vhat-" Starsky grinned his biggest grin, knowing exactly what Hutch was doing.

"Starsky… shut up! I'm on the phone… ordering pizza!"

**The End**


End file.
